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Study: Millennials prefer Facebook, video for B2B research

B2B millennials are playing an increasingly large role in purchasing decisions, a role that will only grow larger moving forward. New research shows that millennials prefer video content and channels like YouTube when researching B2B products and services.

"B2B Report: Millennials" from Sacunas polled 2,000 millennials on their B2B buying habits and what is important to them when making purchasing decisions, and unsurprisingly found that they are decidedly digital-first.

"Seventy-three percent of millennials are involved in product or service purchase decision-making at their companies," the report reads. "Approximately one-third of millennials report being the sole decision-maker for their department. Significantly more male millennials report being the sole decision-maker as compared to female millennials."

The study also found that millennials' decision-making responsibilities increase with their age, with 67 percent of 20 to 24-year-old respondents reporting that they are involved in overall (net) decision-making. That figure rises to 72 percent for millennials ages 25 to 29 being involved in overall decision-making and to 77 percent for those ages 30 to 35.

More than half (56 percent) of responding millennials said that digital channels such as search engines, vendor websites and social media are the most important channels for researching new products and services, according to the report. Mobile devices are also playing a big role in their B2B research processes.

"Our study indicates that most millennials feel that mobile devices are very or somewhat important when researching new products and services for B2B purchasing," the report reads. "Hispanic millennials (89 percent) and African-American millennials (86 percent) consider mobile devices to be important in the purchase process more so than Caucasian millennials (80 percent)."

The study also found, somewhat surprisingly, that Facebook is the top social media channel for millennials researching B2B purchasing decisions.

"Forty percent of millennials use Facebook to research new B2B products and services," according to the Sacunas report. "Significantly more females than males said that Facebook is their preferred social channel."